Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The problems of "psychic research". Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![70 TILE PROBLEMS OE “ quickening; of Iho i)ei‘ce|)tivo procosj^es as inoasurod by the I’caction time to sen- sory stininli and to mental associations, and a variety of similar tests place the genuineness of the phenomena be^mud question, and every new study strengthens the evidence thus accumulated. Under the second head we have to dis- cuss the connection between hypnotism and lliought transferrence, magnetism, clairvoyance, and so on.^ It is often stated that in tiie deepest hypnotic states the sub- ject becomes clairvoyant, predicts future events, reads the numbers on bank-notes known only to the holder, and performs many similar and more wonderful feats. It is safe to say that the evidence for none of these miracles is satisfactory. In 1837 a prize of 3000 francs was offered to any one reading without the aid of eyesight, and remained unredeemed, though several ap- plicants were successfully exposed; the usual trick consisted in the power to see a greatdeal through a very small opening in the skilfully manoeuvred bandage. It is well known that the hypnotic state favors just this kind of sensibility, and the exam- l>les already on record of the exalted sen- sibilities of such subjects especially, Avhen combined with the exquisite shrewdness and passionate love of deceit of a h3^steri- cal temperament, make the attributing of apparently incredible occurrences to more remote causes a veiw questionable proceed- ing. The most important source of error Amongst the phenomena now under investiga- tion, two deserve to be mentioned. 1. French observ- ers record tliat when a subject lias responded to tlic .suggestion that one arm is paralyzed, the application of a magnet to the other arm causes the paralysis to vanish from the side first affected and be “ trans- ferred” to the other side. Several observers in re- pealing the experiment find th.at the “ transfer” suc- ceeds eipially well when the patient believes the mag- net to be there; and in one case a subject who failed to exhibit the usual result was allowed to witness it in another subject, and herself repeated the performance the next day. This illustrates the difficulty of excluding suggestion fi om these experi- ments. 2. Messrs. Bourru and Burot affirm that with certain subjects the mere approach of a her- metically sealed vial containing a drug (the nature of which may be unknown both to sulyject and operator) produces all the characteristic elfccts of strong doses of the substance. This incredible ob- servation when thoroughly studied may ])rovc to be a case of hypersesthesia of smell, together with a shrewd appreciation of suggestions; it requires the sharpest and most prolonged observation to estab- lish such a fact as evidence for a new psychic sense. The most recent studies strengthen the explanation of these facts as cases of extremely delicate uncon- scious suggestions. PSYUmO RESEARCH.” ill all such expei'iiiuMils is Llio luicouscions siio-o'ostioii of the exiiccled re.suIt. The. “ “ * • n tone of the question, the look of .sjitisftic- tion when the desired result fakes place, the impressive silence tit a critical mo- ment, and a host of less obvious indicti- tions are all seized upon and shrewdly in- terpreted. Whether they fully’- expltiin all that .scientilic observers litive recorded may’- be doubted, but they show the neces- sity of the most minute cautions, which in the absence of such knowledge w’ould be no less than foolish.* Einally^ it cannot be too strongly in- sisted uj)on that the practical considera- tion by the public of the.se topics has a dangerous aspect. Public exhibitions of hy’pnotism have been legally prohibited in .several European countries; crimimil complications in which the subject plead- ed hypiK^tic suggestion-1- as ti defence for crime have been introduced, tind our courts must soon decide the question of responsibility in such cases. Ilypnolism is not a ]>arlor aniu.sement nor a toy for dilettanti. It belongs to specialists, and it is they’^ alone who can conduct the ex- periments so as to benefit mankind, and draw the conclusions that validl.y follow from the observations. The public is al- ways over-anxious for an immediately practical result, and does not appreciate the moral value of scientific re.serve. Be- cause a refractory boy who while hypno- tized Avas impressed with the necessity of his reform really seemed to improve, “hyq)- * It should not be overlooked tliut the diseovery of these cxlnaordinary suseeptibilitie.s i.s itself u A’alu.able res’ult. They make evident the marvellous control of the psychic over the physical mechanisin of perception, and in those cases in wliich swellings are produced and taken away, insensibility brought on, or pain made to vanish, they show a mental con- trol of such normally involuntary processes as secre- tion, nutrition, and circulation. We here touch the scientific basis of the “ mind-cure,” and it is to be hoped that reputable iihysicians will rescue this natural aid from the evil surroundings in which it is now found. f This refers to a “ post-hypnotic” suggestion. It is found that if a hypnotized subject be told that on waking, or at a certain time after waking, he will do such and such an action, even if it is a discour- teous, or foolish, or criminal one, he actually docs it. I once told a subject that on the following day at noon he would write me a postal-card. Though he had never written to me before, I received the postal as suggested. It should be added that the effect of the hypnotization is claimed to be as often ben- eficial as harmful; yet enough cases arc on record in which more or less transient deleterious after- effects resulted to serve as a caution for the inex- perienced.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22468006_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
